


and the world feels safer

by evanui



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Comfort, F/M, Gen, Learning to trust, Panic Attacks, Post-Battle of New York (Marvel), Protective Pepper Potts, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has Trust Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25635397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanui/pseuds/evanui
Summary: The sky ripped open and seas of aliens flooded out; he killed them again and again, but there were more of them. There were always more of them. His suit was blisteringly hot as he forced the missile upwards, but his thoughts could only drumPepper Bruce Rhodeyand thenPepper, and the last thing he saw before the heat consumed him was the countless legions circling like hawks above their prey...Or: In which Tony Stark has an anxiety attack. And gets a hug. Because no one ever helps him through his anxiety attacks and that's sad.
Relationships: Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	and the world feels safer

**Author's Note:**

> _Tear down these walls for me  
>  Stop me from going under  
>  You are the only one who knows  
>  I'm holding back_   
> 
> 
> [These Walls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Z1amot0QM) \- Dream Theater

“—but according to experts, the storms are not expected to cause extensive damage. Meanwhile, scientists studying the remains of extraterrestrial technology from the Battle of New York still have not managed to reconstruct a functional—”

“JARVIS, turn that off,” Tony said sharply. The news anchor’s voice cut off mid-sentence, and Tony’s shallow breathing filled the silent workshop.

_New York._

“Mister Stark, are you alright?” the artificial intelligence inquired.

“I’m fine.”

Tony squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath for a moment, focused on the air trying to escape his lungs instead of his thoughts. It was fine, everything was fine. There were who knows how many aliens out there with the technological capacity to destroy everything he’d fought to protect and that was _fine_ , absolutely _wonderful_. He was definitely not going to have an anxiety attack. Tony Stark having an anxiety attack, pfft, like that would ever happen.

He was going to have an anxiety attack.

Tony staggered over to the nearest workbench and massaged his forehead, resisting the urge to curl up into a protective ball. He squeezed his eyes shut—

_and the sky ripped open and seas of aliens flooded out; he killed them again and again, but there were more of them. There were always more of them. His suit was blisteringly hot as he forced the missile upwards, but his thoughts could only drum_ Pepper Bruce Rhodey _and then_ Pepper _, and the last thing he saw before the heat consumed him was the countless legions circling like hawks above their prey—_

No, no, stop that. He just needed to take a look at the problem and fix it. That was what he always did. That was how life worked.

_Come on, brain, work with me. I thought we were friends._

_Genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropists don’t get anxious, the universe says so, end of story. Life. Does. Not. Work. Like. That._

(There weren’t supposed to be aliens either, that wasn’t how life worked, and yet here he was.)

_Will you shut up._

(Genius, billionaire, so what. He was a guy who built metal suits. What was he supposed to do, build a suit of armor around the whole _world?)_

Tony slid to the ground gasping, anxiety twisting his insides. His heart felt strangely weightless and his stomach sank as if he were plummeting from the sky (the sky the wormhole _no no no shut up Tony shut up_ ) and he couldn’t breathe, he was drowning in air and everything was spinning—he was going to pass out he needed to get away _he needed to get away get away GET AWAY—_

“Tony? I brought you lunch…”

Tony let out a shuddering breath and slumped against the leg of the workbench, his heart hammering against his chest. “Thanks, Pep,” he called, straining to keep his voice level, “I’ll get to it when I have a chance…”

“All right, I’ll just set it here—Tony? Are you okay?” Pepper frowned over in his direction.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Tony pushed himself to his feet and started pacing back and forth, tossing a screwdriver between his hands. His heart seemed to think he was an Olympic sprinter. He tried to count the beats per minute _(is this a heart attack)_ , but kept forgetting what number he was on. “I’m kind of working right now, so if you could, you know…”

Pepper’s brows creased. She put down the tray and crossed the room, gently placing her hand on his arm. “Tony, you’re shaking.”

“I’m fine,” he repeated stiffly, wrenching his arm away. Words weren’t working today, they kept sliding away and he had to grab them one by one and shove them into place. It was hard to think of something witty to say when you kept breathing and breathing but you were still _suffocating—_

“Hey,” Pepper said softly, “hey, it’s okay,” and she pulled him into a hug.

Tony stiffened. He didn’t do hugging—well, not hugging like this, anyway, the kind that made you feel small and vulnerable. Touching was nice, in general, but feelings were ew.

But he was already resting his head on Pepper’s shoulder, and his ragged breathing slowed.

It was a strange feeling: being not-okay, letting someone see. All his armor removed, all the layers of carelessness and indifference and pride stripped away. The genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist was gone; he was just Tony, just someone who was uncertain and self-destructive and scared out of his mind.

“I can’t fix things, Tony, that’s your job,” Pepper said into his ear. “Mine is to make sure you don’t break while you’re fixing everything else. Let me do it, okay?”

“You’re the boss,” Tony murmured.

She held him there, the civilian protecting the Avenger, and the world felt a little safer in her arms.


End file.
